一共 meaning in English

yīgòng

in total; altogether

HSK 2adverb7 strokes

Meaning of 一共

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

yīgòng

in total; altogether

How to use 一共

一共 is an adverb that goes before the verb or before a number to give a total. You hear it constantly when shopping or counting people. Example: 一共多少钱？(Yīgòng duōshao qián?) How much is it altogether?

一 (yī) means one, and 共 (gòng) means shared or together. Put everything together into one sum and you get 一共, in total.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 一共 (in total) with 一起 (together, in the same place). Say 我们一起吃饭 for eating together, but 我们一共五个人 for there being five of us in total.

一共 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

一yī共gòng有yǒu十shí多duō个gè学xué生shēng。

There are about ten to twenty students in total.

你nǐ一yī共gòng花huā了le多duō少shǎo钱qián？

What is the total amount of money you spent?

一yī共gòng要yào多duō少shǎo钱qián？

How much will it all cost?

我wǒ的de姓xìng、名míng一yī共gòng有yǒu五wǔ十shí划huà，写xiě起qǐ来lái麻má烦fán得de很hěn。

It's a lot of trouble to write my name, because it takes 50 strokes to write both my first and last names.

我wǒ再zài看kàn一yī次cì《王wáng子zǐ复fù仇chóu记jì》，加jiā起qǐ来lái一yī共gòng就jiù看kàn过guò三sān次cì了le。

I will have read Hamlet three times if I read it again.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

一 yī · one · 1 strokes

共 gòng · common · 6 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 一共.

一起	yīqǐ	(in) the same place; together; in company (with)
一样	yīyàng	same; like
一些	yīxiē	some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er
一会儿	yīhuìr	a moment; a while
一半	yībàn	half
一边	yībiān	one side; either side
一点儿	yīdiǎnr	erhua variant of 一點\|一点[yi1 dian3]
一块儿	yīkuàir	erhua variant of 一塊\|一块[yi1 kuai4]
一下儿	yīxiàr	erhua form of 一下[yi1 xia4]
有一些	yǒuyīxiē	somewhat; rather
一定	yīdìng	surely; certainly; definitely; fixed; settled
一直	yīzhí	straight (in a straight line); continuously; always; all the way through

Questions about 一共

What does 一共 mean?

一共 (yīgòng) means "in total; altogether" and is used as a adverb.

How do you write 一共?

一共 is made of 2 characters: 一 (1 strokes), 共 (6 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.

Is 一共 an HSK word?

Yes. 一共 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

Does the tone of 一 change in 一共?

Yes. 一 is first tone on its own, but before a fourth-tone syllable like 共 (gòng) it changes to second tone, so it sounds like yígòng. Dictionaries usually write the base tone yīgòng.

Can 一共 come directly before a number without a verb?

Yes. In spoken Chinese you can say 一共五十块 (yīgòng wǔshí kuài), fifty kuai in total, with no verb. You can also add a verb, as in 一共是五十块 or 一共有五个人.